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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26797066">You Ain't Woman Enough</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodDayKate/pseuds/GoodDayKate'>GoodDayKate</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Triple Frontier (2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Frankie has a stalker?, Pining, there are definitely some curses in here</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:13:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,374</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26797066</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/GoodDayKate/pseuds/GoodDayKate</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Frankie and his baby girl had moved in next door six months ago, you were fast friends. So when his obnoxious coworker comes to the bar she knows he'll be at, he asks for a favor.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Francisco "Catfish" Morales &amp; Francisco "Catfish" Morales' Child, Francisco "Catfish" Morales/You</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>TripleFrontier</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>You Ain't Woman Enough</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The bar was crowded and loud, but you still heard Frankie’s quiet curse as he pulled his cap further down over his eyes.</p>
<p>“You good, Frankie?” you asked with a nudge of your shoulder.</p>
<p>He huffed and curled in on himself more. “You remember me telling you about that girl I work with? The one who works the gate?”</p>
<p>How could you not? He had complained about Kelly almost as long as you’d known him. </p>
<p>When Frankie and his baby girl had moved in next door six months ago, you were fast friends. He had moved to the Rockies to be closer to his parents. He got a job at the small airport to fly the puddle jumper planes for the celebrities that came and went in Aspen. It was easy to fall into a camaraderie with him, talking shit about the people who came to play in the ski town you both worked in. It was just the two of them, and it was easy to offer help. Whenever he needed someone to look after his baby, you were the first to step up. He was quiet and kind, and always willing to lend a hand in return. He’d helped fix leaky faucets and a broken water heater. You hadn’t shovelled your own drive since you’d started watching Rosie for him.</p>
<p>You’d lost track of the number of times the two of you had sat in one of your living rooms just talking after Rosie was down for the night. You quickly learned that you could trust each other with the truth, so you shared everything. You talked through your quiet fears together. He knew about your relationship with your family and how you felt you needed to be close enough that they could visit, but far enough that they wouldn’t. You’d learned about his brothers, Pope and Will and Benny, and his time in Delta Force and the ptsd that it had given him. He had held your hand when you told him about the college boyfriend you’d had, the one you still had an open order of protection against. He had told you about how he used to cope with the ptsd, how he’d lost his pilot’s license, and the divorce that came with. You were angry for him, but mostly Rosie, when he told you that her mom had decided she didn’t want anything to do with her, either, and left her at his friend’s place while he was out of the country. On one particularly quiet night, Frankie told you about another brother and a trip to South America and how nothing had gone like it was supposed to.</p>
<p>The two of you were as close as two friends could be. You didn’t have any secrets between you, apart from one. It was easy to fall for Frankie and Rosie both, and you knew you’d keep that to yourself for as long as you knew them.</p>
<p>Kelly was a constant talking point and source of frustration for Frankie. You had never met her, but to hear him talk about her was enough. She  asked him out every time she saw him and constantly touched his arms and back and shoulders. One time she even took his hat off and ran her fingers through his hair. When you asked him why he’d let her do that, he mumbled something about just letting it be and changed the subject. Most often, he would end his rant about her with a ‘this isn’t fucking Wings.’ You’d usually just smile and move on. But Frankie hadn’t talked about Kelly in a couple weeks.</p>
<p>You raised your eyebrow at him, and he pointed. “Blonde in the red sweater.”</p>
<p>“Oh, holy hell. That’s Kelly? Does she live in the village?”</p>
<p>“No! She lives down in Aspen.”</p>
<p>You watched her as she scanned the bar, presumably looking for an open spot. Sitting in the darkest corner table would hopefully be your saving grace. When she passed over a couple seats at the bar and a few empty tables, something occurred to you.</p>
<p>“You don’t think she came up this way just to find you, do you?”</p>
<p>“Knowing her, I wouldn’t put it past her. Fuck.” Frankie took a large breath in and started talking. “Look, there’s something I didn’t tell you. I was hoping it’d never come up, but here we are. I got her to stop asking me out a couple weeks ago by saying I had been seeing someone for the last six months. And I may have mentioned it was you because I’ve got pictures with you and it was easy. And I know this sucks because we’re friends and all, but if you could just, I don’t know, hold my hand until she leaves? Please?”</p>
<p>You were stunned silent for a moment, and he couldn’t meet your eyes. Before you could respond, Kelly’s eyes found Frankie and she started making her way over.</p>
<p>“Shit, she’s seen you.”</p>
<p>You leaned in and took his hand. “I’ve got you, Frankie,” you whispered as you brushed a chaste kiss across his cheek. “Whatever you need.”</p>
<p>He raised his desperate eyes to yours in a quiet thanks, and you tore yours away from him to watch Kelly walk to your table. She was conventionally beautiful, with long blonde hair falling in waves down her back. Her jeans were so tight they looked uncomfortable and the red sweater she wore was cut low enough that you knew it was never intended as anything heat retaining.</p>
<p>You turned back to find Frankie’s eyes on you, eyebrows pulled low in concern. Without thinking, you raised your free hand to his face and smoothed the crease between his eyebrows before bringing it back down and cupping his cheek.</p>
<p>“It’ll be fine, Frankie. What’re friends for?”</p>
<p>He didn’t get a chance to say anything before Kelly had draped herself over him, making you jump and move your hand away from his face.</p>
<p>“Oh my god, Francisco! I didn’t know you’d be here! What a coinkydink!” She gave him an exaggerated wink and moved her body away from him, but kept her hands around his bicep.</p>
<p>His whole body was tense and his tone was clipped when he responded.“Yeah, well, I told you I was getting drinks with my girlfriend tonight, and that’s why I couldn’t go out with you. This is one of very few options, Kelly.”</p>
<p>“Oh, right. Well who’s got little Rosalina tonight if your neighbor is here with you?”</p>
<p>“We got a sitter,” Frankie all but mumbled.</p>
<p>Her eyes wided. “Wow, it’s the royal we, now?” she asked with an air of mocking incredulity.</p>
<p>She still hadn’t looked at you, or even acknowledged that you were there, apart from her emphasis on knowing that you lived next door to him. You gave his hand a squeeze and spoke up.</p>
<p>“Has been for the last couple of months, actually.”</p>
<p>She finally turned to look at you, a purse on her lips and heavy disdain in her eyes. You flashed her a smile and introduced yourself.</p>
<p>She held her hand out loose and palm down, like she expected you to kiss it. “Kelly.”</p>
<p>You gripped her hand and gave it a firm shake. “Oh, I’m well aware. It’s good to put a face to the many stories I’ve heard.”</p>
<p>Kelly dropped your hand and draped herself across Frankie’s shoulder again, looking up at him through her eyelashes.</p>
<p>“Francisco! You talk about me at home? What does little Rosalina think?”</p>
<p>Frankie was three stages of red and trying to peel her off of himself, but she kept latching on. “Kelly, Rose isn’t even a year, she doesn’t think about you.”</p>
<p>She let him go and pouted, like she was the baby. “But if you talk about me-”</p>
<p>“I don’t talk to my daughter about you.”</p>
<p>You had to cover up your laugh with a startled cough. Kelly’s eyes turned to you as she sat down in the third chair at the table.</p>
<p>“So you’re the girlfriend, then?”</p>
<p>You laughed and squeezed Frankie’s hand. “Yeah, I guess you could call me that. I mean, he certainly does.”</p>
<p>“The prospect of seeing her makes it easy to get up in the morning.” He chuckled. “You know, besides having an infant in the house.”</p>
<p>Kelly hummed and rolled her eyes. “Right. So, Francisco, tell me, why is it just you and little Rosalina?”</p>
<p>Your eyebrows shot up. “Kelly, that’s deeply personal and none of your business.”</p>
<p>Frankie brought you entwined hands up to kiss the back of yours. “That’s okay, cariño. I don’t mind.” He put your hands back on the table and turned to Kelly. “Her mom and I were in the process of getting divorced before Rosie was actually born. We just,” he trailed off and looked at you. You gave him a soft smile and squeezed his hand for him to continue. “We just weren’t right for each other. About a month after she was born, I took a trip to South America, and when I came back a week later, I found out that she decided she’d rather not be a mom, either. She left Rosie and the completed divorce paperwork with my buddy’s wife and took off. I haven’t actually seen or heard from her, since. After that, it was a stupidly easy decision to move back up here. My parents live in the village, so they could help out with their granddaughter and I’d have a support system that was more than a pair of brothers. One of whom beats people up for a living.”</p>
<p>He shrugged. “It was the best decision I could’ve made.”</p>
<p>“Oh? Why is that?”</p>
<p>He smiled. “I moved back to Colorado and found her.” He squeezed your hand again. “I wasn’t looking for it, but I fell in love again. I was lucky. And I couldn’t be more thankful for that.I love her almost as much as I love my daughter.”</p>
<p>Your breath caught in your throat and you had to remind yourself that this was for show. Obviously Frankie didn’t actually love you, he was just telling Kelly that he did. As far as she knew, you’d been dating for six months. Of course you would have said you loved each other.</p>
<p>You figured that it would be easiest to just give the partial truth, so you smiled. This was the easiest part you would ever have to play. “I’m definitely the lucky one. He moved in next door and it was completely impossible not to fall in love with them. I’m still sure that I’m going to wake up and it will all have been some kind of dream.”</p>
<p>Frankie turned to look at you, and the amount of love you could see in his eyes made you suck in a breath. “Te quiero con todo mi corazón.”</p>
<p>You knew you had to swallow down the emotion that brought up, but damn, if that didn’t bring butterflies to your stomach. It was just too much, having Frankie talk about your nonexistent romance. The feeling of his hand in yours, every brush of his leg, all the lovely words he used to describe a love you didn’t share. You just needed to get away for a moment.</p>
<p>“You’re the sweetest. Right. Excuse me for a minute.” You leaned over to kiss his cheek, and met Frankie’s eyes with a sad smile and a silent apology.</p>
<p>Once you pushed your way through the mass of people hovered by the bar, you leaned on the counter and looked at yourself in the bathroom mirror.</p>
<p>“What the hell am I doing? Why did I agree to that?” You hung your head low and let out a heavy sigh.</p>
<p>The door opened and the loud sounds from the bar interrupted your thoughts. When you straightened up to leave, you took one last look in the mirror and noticed Kelly standing behind you with her arms folded across her chest. When you made eye contact, a slow smile spread across her face. The look in her eyes made you shiver before you turned to face her.</p>
<p>She took a step closer. “Let’s just cut to the chase, shall we? I know you’re in love with Francisco.”</p>
<p>	A startled laugh bubbled up out of your chest. It took a moment for you to respond because you weren’t sure if she was serious. “Of course I’m in love with Frankie. It would be impossible not to be completely in love with him and Rosie, both.”</p>
<p>Kelly raised one eyebrow and smirked before continuing. “Oh, I know that’s true. But I also know that you and Francisco aren’t actually dating. You’re just his neighbor and occasional babysitter. You can drop the act.”</p>
<p>You blinked in surprise, eyebrows shooting up your forehead. “Excuse me?”</p>
<p>“I know Francisco isn’t seeing you.”</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, I’m not following. How’d you come to that conclusion?”</p>
<p>Her eyes still hadn’t left yours, and it seemed like she wasn’t even blinking. “You know, when Francisco first told me that he was dating you, I was massively jealous.”</p>
<p>You rolled your eyes and let out a huff. “You don’t say.”</p>
<p>She ignored you and kept talking. “But I started watching him. I came up to Snowmass and asked around. I’ve watched the two of you together. I’ve seen you with Rosalina. I know you’re not a couple. I don’t know why Fransisco thought he needed to make up some girlfriend and then pawn it off on someone who he clearly has no actual feelings for.”</p>
<p>You were horrified. “You’ve been watching him and Rosie?”</p>
<p>“Oh, I just needed to see who my Francisco was spending his time with. Now that I know that I don’t actually have to worry about him having feelings for you, he can go back to being my Francisco. I can’t believe you’re still carrying a torch for him when he clearly doesn’t care for you.” She backed away and looked down at her fingernails. “I mean, come on, you’ve clearly been in love with him for longer than I’ve been watching.”</p>
<p>Kelly’s face was smug, like she knew she was in your head. But you were focused on the more important part of her little speech.</p>
<p>You started out slow, to make sure she caught that you’d understood her. “So, just to be clear, you’re admitting to actively stalking Francisco Morales and his daughter.”</p>
<p>“What, that’s not-”</p>
<p>“That’s what you’ve just said. You said you started watching him. That you have watched his home, and his daughter, and who they’re spending time with. You’ve asked about him in the town that he lives in. You made a trip out of the way of where you live, just feign accidentally running into him and to corner me. Did you go to his house before you came here?”</p>
<p>“I’m not stalking Francisco. That’s not what this is,” she spluttered.</p>
<p>“Oh? Then tell me exactly what this is, Kelly.”</p>
<p>She opened and closed her mouth like a fish, trying to come up with something. After a few moments of letting her flounder, she finally stepped forward and pointed her finger in your face.</p>
<p>“We work together! I’m not stalking Francisco! Even if that was true, you have no proof,” she seethed through clenched teeth.</p>
<p>A scary sort of calm washed over you. You had experience here. You could help Frankie and Rosie both.</p>
<p>“Get your finger out of my face, Kelly.” It took her a couple seconds, but she did drop her hand. If looks could kill, you’d have been dead three times.</p>
<p>“How careful were you to stay hidden when you were spying on Frankie’s home, Kelly?”</p>
<p>“That’s- I don’t-”</p>
<p>“That’s okay, Kelly. I have security cameras around my property. And we can certainly find testimony of the people you talked to. And I’m sure the airport staff would vouch for how uncomfortable you make Frankie on a daily basis. It’s easy enough to request a restraining order. Do you suppose that’s enough proof?”</p>
<p>Kelly’s eyes were wide and the fear you could see brought a slow smile to your face.</p>
<p>“We could probably even issue a protective order, since you have actually admitted to me, one of his child’s caregivers, that you’ve been actively stalking her and her father.”</p>
<p>Her eyes were panicked, and before anything else could be said, she was out the door. You took a deep breath and leaned back against the counter.</p>
<p>“What the fuck.”</p>
<p>A stall opened, and you startled. A young woman stepped out holding her phone. “I recorded that whole conversation. Do you want me to send it to you?”</p>
<p>Your brows furrowed. “I’m sorry?”</p>
<p>“I recorded what she was saying. Do you want me to send it to you?”</p>
<p>“Oh, uh,” you ran a hand down your face. “Yes, please. How much did you get?”</p>
<p>Her smile was sheepish when she handed you her phone. “Well, I hit record when she said she knew you were in love with him. I thought it was going to be a drunk girl confrontation that I could laugh about with my friends. Now I’m just kind of glad I’m a nosy bitch.”</p>
<p>You chuckled as you typed your number in. “No kidding. Thank you for having the insight to record, I guess. I don’t know what will come of it, but if he does decide to pursue something, we may need you to give some sort of statement.”</p>
<p>“All good. I figured. Just keep my number for if you need it.” She placed a hand on your shoulder and sent a comforting smile your way before leaving the bathroom.</p>
<p>You took a shaky breath and headed back to your table.</p>
<p>“What the hell did you say to her? She just took her bag and left, didn’t even say bye.”</p>
<p>You sat down and took his hand in yours. His eyes crinkled as he smiled. “You don’t have to do that anymore, she’s not here.”</p>
<p>“Frankie, what I’m about to say isn’t something nice.”</p>
<p>He interrupted you with a laugh. “I’d be surprised if you did have anything nice to say. She’s a lot.”</p>
<p>With a sigh, you looked down at your hand in his, and brought your free hand up to cover your entwined fingers. “No, Frankie. It’s really not good. Kelly…” you trailed off, unsure whether to sugar coat or just come right out and say it.</p>
<p>“Sweetheart, just talk. It’s me.”</p>
<p>Your eyes met his and you made your decision. “Frankie, Kelly has been stalking you and Rosie.”</p>
<p>The color drained from his face. “No. Kelly’s just a nuisance. She’d never go that far.”</p>
<p>“Frankie, she just cornered me in the bathroom to tell me that she knows we aren’t dating because she’s been watching you. There was another woman in a stall and she recorded it. She’s been watching me with Rosie and asking about you in the village.”</p>
<p>“Oh god, my baby. Would she have hurt my baby?”</p>
<p>His eyes were desperate again, but this time, holding his hand wouldn’t help. “I don’t know, Sweetie. I don’t know. You wait here, and I’ll pay our tab and we can go home so you can hold Rosie. You’ll be able to put your baby to bed and then we can talk about this more, if you want, okay love?”</p>
<p>Frankie’s eyes were glazed over with tears and he looked almost catatonic when you got back to him.</p>
<p>“Come on, sweetheart, let’s get you up so we can start walking home. Just a few minutes longer and you’ll have your baby girl in your arms. It’ll be okay, Frankie. I’ll help you however you need.”</p>
<p>The short walk back to your houses was quiet, your arm around his. Every time you looked at Frankie’s face, you saw the fear in his eyes, and you knew that he was imagining the worst-case scenario when you got home. He was afraid that he was going to walk in and find his daughter missing. A part of you was also afraid you were going to find that.</p>
<p>When you walked into the door to see Taylor sitting on the sofa with Rosie on her lap, you let out a sigh of relief. You could see Frankie visibly relax, his shoulders releasing some of the tension he’d let build up on the walk home.</p>
<p>“Oh, you’re home early. Is everything okay?”</p>
<p>Rosie’s chubby hands were reaching for her father, and he moved to take her into his arms. You sent a subtle shake of your head to her, and she nodded.</p>
<p>“Well, Mr. Morales, she was an absolute delight, as always.”</p>
<p>Frankie only hummed in response, Rosie tucked into the crook of his neck, lightly playing with the curls at his ear.</p>
<p>You gestured over to the door and reached for your wallet. “I don’t know how much he pays you, honey, but this is all the cash I’ve got.”</p>
<p>Taylor looked at you with wide eyes. “I wasn’t even here for an hour, though! You don’t have to do that.”</p>
<p>You put both twenties in her hand and then raised yours in surrender. “Oh, no, shucks, it’s in your possession, now, you can’t give it back.”</p>
<p>She smiled and shook her head. “Okay, then. Thank you.” She turned to where Frankie was standing. “Bye, sweet Rose. Anytime you guys need me, let me know. I just love her to pieces. Have a good rest of your evening, Mr. Morales.”</p>
<p>Frankie just nodded his head at her and went back to loving on his daughter.</p>
<p>“Thanks, hon. Have a good night. Drive safe,” you whispered as she walked out of the house. You locked the door behind her and turned back to Frankie. “You want me to hang out here for a bit?”</p>
<p>“Please. I’m going to put her down here in a couple minutes.”</p>
<p>You sat on the couch and tried to busy yourself on your phone, but your eyes kept drifting back to Frankie. He had Rosie resting on his shoulder just quietly rocking her in his arms. Her eyes were falling shut, but was fighting sleep because she’d startle awake every so often. Once she was out, Frankie looked at you. “Okay, I’m going to put her down. I’ll be right back.”</p>
<p>When he came back out to the living room, he sat down next to you on the sofa. “Okay. You said something about a recording?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, there was a girl in one of the stalls. She thought it was going to be something funny she could share with her friends so she started a voice recording.”</p>
<p>“Let’s hear it, I guess.”</p>
<p>You put your hand on his knee. “Frankie, we don’t have to listen to this right now. We can go over this in the morning, if you want. I don’t want you to lose sleep.”</p>
<p>He shook his head. “No, I’m already not going to sleep well. I’d rather just listen now.”</p>
<p>“Okay, sweetie,” you sighed. You opened the text and pressed play.</p>
<p>The tail end of your nervous laugh sounded and your stomach dropped. You’d forgotten that about what else Kelly had said. You just had to hope that Frankie focused on Kelly like you had.</p>
<p>“‘Of course I’m in love with Frankie. It would be impossible not to be completely in love with him and Rosie, both.’”</p>
<p>As Kelly continued talking in the recording, you just watched Frankie’s face. You usually didn’t have a hard time reading him, he was someone who rarely hid his emotions, but right then he just looked impassive.</p>
<p>“‘I mean, come on, you’ve clearly been in love with him for longer than I’ve been watching.’”</p>
<p>You could feel your face heating up.</p>
<p>Frankie reached over and paused the recording. “Is that true?”</p>
<p>You closed your eyes. “Frankie, I-”</p>
<p>“Dulzura, please. You have to know. How could you not?”</p>
<p>You looked into his eyes, but you still couldn’t make out the emotion in them. “Know what, Frankie?”</p>
<p>“Cariño, everything I said tonight,” he trailed off. He took his hat off and ran his hand through his hair. “Do you even know how much you mean to me?” he whispered.</p>
<p>“Of course. I help out with Rosie. We’re friends.” Just saying that out loud brought a lump to your throat. There were tears in your eyes threatening to spill, so you looked up toward the ceiling.</p>
<p>Frankie reached out and took your face in his hands, tilting it back down to look at him. A tear fell and he brushed it away with his thumb. “Dulzura, you mean so much more to me than just friends. Everything I said tonight was true. I wasn’t looking for love when I moved back here. I wanted a quiet neighborhood where I could raise my daughter near her abuelos. But love found me anyways.”</p>
<p>You could feel your lip quiver. “Really?”</p>
<p>Frankie smiled and brought his forehead to rest on yours. “Te quiero con todo mi corazón, mi amor,” he whispered.</p>
<p>“I love you, too, Frankie. With all of my heart.”</p>
<p>He brought his lips up to place a kiss on your forehead. “You sure you want to do this, cariño? You know all my baggage. You know how tough it will be.”</p>
<p>You let out a watery laugh. “Francisco Morales, you are the easiest man to love. You are kind and selfless. You’re stubborn. You love that baby of yours so, so much. It was so easy to fall for you. I’ve loved you since that first night we sat and talked right here.”</p>
<p>“Funny, that’s the night I knew, too. And the first night I bitched about Kelly.”</p>
<p>You groaned and looked down at your phone. “It can wait, cariño. It can wait.”</p>
<p>You looked back up at him and smirked. “You haven’t even kissed me, yet, Francisco.”</p>
<p>Frankie hummed and brushed a bit of hair away from your face and smiled. “You’re right, I haven’t. You are so beautiful, cariño.”</p>
<p>He leaned in close enough that your noses brushed. “May I?” he whispered.</p>
<p>Your answering ‘please’ was barely audible, but he closed the distance anyway.</p>
<p>Frankie was right. He loved you, so everything else could wait until morning.</p>
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